죽도 성당

History & origins

The immediate prehistory of Jukdo Parish is closely tied to the formation of the Catholic community in Pohang. According to a Catholic Times account of Catholic history in Pohang, Philip Yu Chi-su, a native of Munchung-dong, returned to his hometown in 1898 and shared the faith with relatives, an event presented as the beginning of evangelization in the area. A mission station was established at Munchung in 1930 and another at Pohang in 1945. In March 1950, Fr. Felix Kim Gyeong-u was assigned as the first pastor of the Catholic community in Pohang and celebrated its first Mass in a Catholic home. Official records of the Archdiocese of Daegu give April 15, 1950, as the establishment date of Jukdo Parish.

The diocese had already purchased land for a church at the present Jukdo site in 1947, but construction was delayed by the Korean War. After the first pastor withdrew during the war, Fr. Kim Du-ho was assigned, and through his efforts and assistance from a U.S. military chaplain, a wooden, tile-roofed church was dedicated in June 1953. This church served as a central space for the Catholic community in Pohang until the Catholic hall was built in 1982.

As the city grew, Jukdo Parish became a mother parish from which new parishes were established. Catholic Times records that, beginning with the separation of Deoksu Parish in 1978, fourteen parishes in the Pohang area had been formed from Jukdo by 2010. This reflects the process by which a single parish jurisdiction was divided into local Catholic communities as Pohang's residential areas expanded and the Catholic population grew.

In 2019, the installation Mass for the archbishop's delegate of the Fourth Vicariate was celebrated at Jukdo Church. The parish's 60th anniversary in 2010 was marked by a Mass of thanksgiving and commemorative events including a photo exhibition and concert, while the 70th anniversary in 2020 included a Mass of thanksgiving, the blessing of a Marian grotto, and Confirmation. From the growth of the Pohang mission station through wartime church construction, the establishment of daughter parishes, and anniversary liturgies, these developments trace Jukdo Church's place as a major center in the Catholic history of Pohang.